Posted on 10/21/2010 6:29:15 AM PDT by MarianoApologeticus
...That “Hitchens delights too much…” is indeed true, which is why he refers to himself as an “anti-theist.”
The greatest issue with the death bed conversion is that a death bed is not guaranteed. Whoever said that you will rest upon a death bed and reflect upon your life, etc.? One car wreck or one fallen piano could spell your instant demise.
Daniel Dennett suffered a heart attack and he took pleasure in praising man and science for his physical salvation stating, “Thank goodness I’m alive.”
Richard Dawkins stated that he is going to record his death bed experience so that it will serve as proof that he did not repent, “When I'm on my death bed, I'm going to have a tape recorder switched on” to keep people from claiming what has been claimed of others such as Charles Darwin, that “they had a death-bed conversion when they didn't…It's not going to happen.” Imagine being so very, very, very assured of your own correctness.
(Excerpt) Read more at truefreethinker.com ...
Clearly these people fear that in the end, on their deathbeds, God is going to say “SIKE!”
Maybe Dawkins will have a Stalin-like death bed experience .. die shaking his fist and gargling at an unseen entity (or host of them) hovering in a corner of the room
I’ve always liked Christopher Hitchens, but not always agreed with him.
I hope God has a sense of humor and cures Mr. Hitchens. If that isn’t in the cards, I hope He has mercy on his soul.
“It is very beautiful over there.”
Thomas A. Edison, atheist, on his deathbed
I agree. CH sure woke many of us up and kept us awake. Moreover, if God does not have a sense of humour, most of us are in deep trouble.
Per Wiki (I know, I know)
Edison was called an atheist for those remarks, and although he did not allow himself to be drawn into the controversy publicly, he clarified himself in a private letter: “You have misunderstood the whole article, because you jumped to the conclusion that it denies the existence of God. There is no such denial, what you call God I call Nature, the Supreme intelligence that rules matter. All the article states is that it is doubtful in my opinion if our intelligence or soul or whatever one may call it lives hereafter as an entity or disperses back again from whence it came, scattered amongst the cells of which we are made.”
Israel, Paul (2000). Edison: A Life of Invention. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 0471362700.
The final conversation is between God and Christopher.
Just back off!!!!
Secular humanist!!
Why would anyone plan on what they are going to say on their death bed? I would think that’s definitely the one time you could say whatever comes to mind.
The birth mother of my adopted brother was screaming in terror on her death bed. Horrifying thought.
Did this happen to Stalin? It would make sense.
That's how Beethoven died. But Ludwig definitely believed in God. It was a Job-like love/hate relationship.
Beethoven - Missa Solemnis - Credo (I believe)
Poor Hitchens. Even Beethoven's argument for God is lost on him.
That was profound.
If God truly knows what happens to us after death, then it’s already taken care of.
“I found these words about Stalin’s deathbed scene, as described by his daughter, Svetlana, in Allen Bullock’s Hitler and Stalin. She says:
“The death agony was terrible. God grants an easy death only to the just. He literally choked to death as we watched. At what seemed like the very last moment he suddenly opened his eyes and cast a glance over everyone in the room. It was a terrible glance, insane or perhaps angry and full of fear of death. . .Then something incomprehensible and terrible happened that to this day I can’t forget. . .He suddenly lifted his left hand as though he were pointing to something up above and bring down a curse on us all. The gesture was incomprehensible and full of menace. . .The next moment, after a final effort, the spirit wrenched itself free of the flesh.”
“Either this wallpaper goes, or I do”
Oscar Wilde
Thanks. Most people’s deathbed vision are pleasant, and usually involve family members or close friends coming to take them away....so to speak. I guess Stalin saw those who were coming to take him away too.
In my extensive reading on near death experiences, about 30% of them are horrifying. So much for the “lack of oxygen” or “dying brain” making then feel good argument.
That certainly had people talking.
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